spotlight
Syllables: spot·lightUK/ˈspɒtˌlaɪt//ˈspɑtˌlaɪt/
spotlight noun: a bright, directional light or lamp, especially one used to illuminate the focus or center of attention on a stage.
Noun
spotlight (plural spotlights)
- A bright, directional light or lamp, especially one used to illuminate the focus or center of attention on a stage.
- The circle of light shed by a spotlight.
- The center of attention; the highlight or most important part.
- Some people enjoy the spotlight.
- Billionaires like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are known for their charitable contributions, but not all great givers crave the spotlight. Last night, a Massachusetts general hospital in Boston, an anonymous individual gave an unprecedented donation of two hundred human kidneys. This secret...2008 March 11, The Onion, 00:05 from the start, in Anonymous Hero Donates Hospital 200 Human Kidneys (Comedy; Satire), via YouTube
- A showcase.
Verb
spotlight (third-person singular simple present spotlights, present participle spotlighting, simple past and past participle spotlighted or spotlit)
- To illuminate with a spotlight.
- We spotlight the star, but the supporting cast has all the great lines in this scene.
- The first act of Me & Julie presents Mr. Short in a black tie at his piano, beneath a golden arched proscenium, spotlighted on an otherwise dark stage.1984 April 14, Michael Bronski, “Sophistication and Verve”, in Gay Community News, page 18
- To draw attention to.
- The news series served to spotlight corruption.
- Synonym of jacklight (“to use a spotlight in hunting animals”).
- Synonyms:
- jacklight
spotlight meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
spotlight in Hindi
- स्पॉटलाइट
spotlight in Tamil
- இடவொளி
spotlight in Marathi
- स्पॉटलाइट
spotlight in Urdu
- اسپاٹ لائٹ, سپاٹ لائٹ
More languagesFewer languages
- spotlight in Bengali
- আলোকসম্পাত, আকর্ষণের কেন্দ্রবিন্দু
- spotlight in Telugu
- స్పాట్లైట్
- spotlight in Malayalam
- യശോധാവള്യം, പ്രശസ്തി, പ്രസിദ്ധി, പരസ്യം
- spotlight in Kannada
- ನೆಲಬೆಳಕು, ಎಡೆಬೆಳಕು
- spotlight in Punjabi
- ਸਪੌਟਲਾਈਟ
- spotlight in Gujarati
- સ્પૉટલાઇટ, સ્પૉટલાઇટ કરો
- spotlight in Odia
- ସ୍ପଟଲାଇଟ, ସ୍ପଟଲାଇଟ୍
- spotlight in Nepali
- स्पटलाइट, स्पॉटलाइट, स्पोटलाइट
- spotlight in Arabic
- أَضْوَاء ʔaḍwāʔ
- spotlight in Persian
- نورافکن nurâfkan, پروژکتور prožektor
- spotlight in Thai
- สบอตไลท์
Examples of spotlight in a sentence
- The daily determination of the water level in these tubes was made with a portable limnometric rod supplied with transistorized amplifier and a spotlight.
- The lights seen over the city last night, originally termed unidentified flying objects, turned out to be spotlights from a car dealership reflecting on low clouds.
- The actors get the glory, the spotlight and the name up in lights while it is the stagehands who point the spotlight, hang the name and change the light bulbs.
Synonyms of spotlight
Forms of spotlight
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | spotlights |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | spotlights |
| present participle | spotlighting |
| past participle | spotlighted |
| past | spotlighted |
| past participle | spotlit |
| past | spotlit |
Origin of spotlight
From spot + light.
Words formed from spotlight
- hog the spotlight
- in the spotlight
- spotlight effect
- spotlighter
- spotlighty
- under the spotlight
- unspotlighted
Phrases with spotlight
Questions about spotlight
- What does spotlight mean?
- Spotlight means a bright, directional light or lamp, especially one used to illuminate the focus or center of attention on a stage.
- What is spotlight in Hindi?
- Spotlight in Hindi is स्पॉटलाइट. See Spotlight meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is spotlight?
- Spotlight can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce spotlight?
- Spotlight is pronounced /ˈspɒtˌlaɪt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of spotlight?
- The plural of spotlight is spotlights.
Words near spotlight in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: spotlight (page history and authors); spotlight (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spotlight (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spotlight (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); spotlight (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spotlight (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spotlight (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-spotlight.wav.
Cite this entry: “spotlight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spotlight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.